Hong Kong without Daddy Lim Day 2 Part 1: Science Museum

The phone alarms went off one by one. With or without, we were up fairly early at about 7.30am. The sky was bright.

The plan was either another indoor venue - the Science Museum or to Cheung Chau. Accordingly to the weather forecast, it would be rainy with thunderstorms and no. 1 typhoon could hit HKG, possibly escalating to no. 3. The following day, though still rainy, did not have typhoon warning. Logically, it would make sense to head indoor but the weather was so gorgeous when we headed for bfast. Seriously?

Since there wasn't much on the itineray, we took our time to get ready. The kids even had a bathtub dip and indulged in TV and snacks. Nobody complained that it was boring; they love staying in hotels. We headed for bfast at about 9am at one of the 茶餐厅. It was the typical squeeze and I was worried that active Zaky would get the famous dagger stares but it went fine generally and the bfast was fabulous. The kids both had a good amount of food.

We finally got out of the hotel at 10ish and took a bus 26 to the museum. The bus stop was right across the road, so convenient. See how nice the weather was.. what typhoon? We can't help but were doubtful of the weather forecast.

We are no strangers to buses in Sgp but sitting on the upper deck + front seats of a double decker deck never fails to thrill kids. It was a 15 mins ride and the kids were happily counting the number of taxis and double decker buses on the road. I like self-entertained kids anytime. Hohoho.

Of course the ride was completed with some self entertainment for the adults too.

We alighted at the depot and the Science Museum was right across the road. Hooray! The entrance was reasonable too at HKG30 per adult and only HKG5 per school going kid. This was already inclusive of the special mummy exhibition that was ongoing and would even be cheaper for only the permanent exhibits.

The mummy exhibition was actually very informative and I was interested to read about the history but we have a scardy cat who was almost freaking out. Lol. I had to leave Lil Shauna with Ah yee while rushing through with the boy. Fortunately, there were some games to entertain the kids while we waited for them. Soon Lil Shauna joined while waiting for CY to finish the exhibits. Ah yee said that CY loves museum.

 We also learned how to spell the kids' name in ancient Eyptian.

We continued with the permanent exhibits thereafter. There were plenty of little stations with puzzles like these.

I forgot to take pictures bcos even I had fun. Most of the time, I had to look at the hint and then the solution to solve the puzzles. So there was always mega excitement when we managed to solve any without help. Lol.

Lunch time came quickly and we left the museum for lunch nearby. Lunch was good; look at the food! Rolling, Rolling, rolling home. We even topped it up with ice cream thereafter.

We went back to the museum after lunch bcos there was a children's deck only to realise that it catered very much to younger kids. We didn't stay longest the kids section before heading back to the other areas for more exploration.

It was about 4ish when we finally left the Science Museum; we all had overload of Science. Lol. It was indeed a good day of relatively cheap fun.

Mummy Lim

Hong Kong without Daddy Lim Day 1: Epic Land

Bcos the price wasn't too far off, we took the luxurious SQ to HKG. This is even more so when we only had to pay for 3 instead of the usual 4 tickets. Muahahaha. I needed a full fledge flight lah; it is me against 2 kids.

We had bfast with Daddy Lim at the airport before we cleared the immigration. It was kind of rush though and the kids were looking forward to playground time like all previous trips.

The kids were left at the playground for 5 mins while I stock up on my makeup essential.

This is the smallest playground out of all the terminals I think. So the kids didn't protest when they were told that they had to head for the gate. After toilet breaks and queuing to fill the bottles, it wasn't long before boarding. Exciting!

Lil Shauna had been acting responsibly as the 1stborn throughout and willingly let Zaky take the window seat.

The flight wasn't too bad. The kids were well entertained by the in-flight entertainment. There weren't too much kids' movie selection though. They did get restless along the 4 hr flight but largely manageable. I didn't manage to arrange for kids' meal and must make a mental note to do so for the flight back. Eating will take away some "pain" as well. Haha.

We were starting to get sleepy nearing landing but there wasn't time to sleep. It was a bumpy landing but we arrived safe and sound and right on time. Looking out of the window, it looked foggy. Immigration, though crowded, was smooth. I like their efficiency. Lol.

Once we exited, we saw ah yee and CY waiting for us. They had especially came to the airport in case I couldn't handle the kids and luggage.

Last minute, we had to move most itinerary indoor bcos the weather forecast said that it would be rainy. I was actually looking forward to some trails; our last Dragon back trail was fantastic. Ah yee said that it was burning hot the last few days and today's weather was the kindest so far. Given that it was already 2pm, we decided to let the kids bounce around at some indoor playground to burn the day.

We had a light lunch before we took a bus - DB02A to Discovery Bay. It was a short trip but cost HKD35. So expensive.

Epicland! I had thought that the kids had outgrown indoor playground but they were so excited! It was a huge playground.

While the kids run around, ah yee was resting. I was worried that they would be bored but ah yee assured that it was good rest for her as they had really pushing itinerary the last few days before we arrived.

The amazing thing about kids is how they can almost ignore all physical needs at play but will feel the extreme thereafter. Hunger and tiredness set in immediately after we left. The kids started munching on snacks while we waited for the bus to bring us to the Sunny Bay MTR station. Then it was an another long train ride to our hotel at Jordon. I was worried that Zaky would fell asleep. He is way too heavy for me to carry him now. Fortunately, he held up but was very whiney. Zzzzz. The hotel was 1 min away frim the MTR exit.

The kids were definitely overtired after the early morning, flight and running in the playground. Thankfully, ah yee was super nice to suggest taobao dinner in the room. The kids asked for KFC and that was what we had in the food paradise. Sleep was so easy. Lil Shauna had a bed to herself while I squeezed with the not-so-little-anymore boy. End of the 1st day of our short holiday.

Mummy Lim

Jetting Off Without Daddy Lim

In March, Daddy Lim brought the kids to Penang without me bcos I was in Barcelona for the global meeting. Now, it is my turn! It is the September holiday but Daddy Lim has insufficient leave.

We have decided to leave him home to work hard. We are jetting off to HKG to find ah yee and CY!

Daddy Lim is so sad.

It is my 1st time flying with with kids and they had been warned not to kill me. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Gum Infection

On Friday, I had my dinner after my treadmill after realising that I always feel like vomiting if dinner was before. I wasn't too hungry bcos of the exhausion but still ended up eating a lot as the exhausion worn off. Lol. Anyway, the point was the aching gum/ teeth/ jaw at the right end while eating. Did I clench my jaw too tightly while I was on the treadmill? Never mind, it was something that I could easily resolve by chewing on the left side. At the amount of food that I consumed, I could safely say that it didn't affect me one tiny bit.

I thought that it was something that I could sleep off but woke up before 6am the next morning bcos of pain. The lower right end gum was swollen, angry and painful. Like I mentioned, it couldn't be the wisdom tooth that was removed years back. I suspected a gum infection.

The pain didn't stop me from the morning ride with Daddy Lim and the pain was still bad after the ride. I foresee a dreadful visit to the dentist. Noooooo!!!!

I couldn't eat much for bfast bcos I could hardly chew. Even swallowing water was painful. I complained to Popo, who insisted that I was too heaty and the swollen gum is nothing a liang teh (or 2) couldn't solve. She immediately "prescribed" me with 2 panadols and assured that the swelling would soon go down and the painkiller would take care of the pain. Wah, I got dentist in the house. 

For a while, I was tempted to follow Popo's instruction. I got a bottle of liang teh from the herbal drink stall and popped my panadols, which took care of the pain. I decided against it eventually given that I have a regional meeting coming up and in no position to take urgent MC. I was so lucky to find a walk-in slot at one of the dental clinics in JE and exactly the time while the kids were in class. 

Lunch was difficult too but it was really less painful. I was secretly happy, thinking that it would help with my diet plans that are constantly failing. I wasn't sure if it was bcos of the panadol or that the swelling had gone down. 

I eventually went to the dentist. Was I too heaty? Hehehe. Obviously not. It was a gum infection, just as I guessed. Why the sudden? That is why we have to go to the dentist every 6 monthly to get the teeth cleaned. My last visit was almost a year ago bcos dentist visits are too scary. 

The dentist cleaned my teeth and it was sheer agony when he cleaned the last tooth that is right beside the swollen gum. I was also prescribed antibiotics to fight the infection and bring down the swelling. The antibiotics must be really good bcos the pain came down drastically by evening, which also meant pigging out at dinner. Chey! Popo prepared steamboat for ah yee's homecoming and I have a soft spot for steamboat. Poor waistline.

Mummy Lim

Ah Yee and CY's Homecoming

It has been more than a year since ah yee and CY came back. They are afterall not a MRT ride away; their air tickets can easily cost $1k each. Then, there is the annual leave to take. I totally understand how precious annual leaves are. Haha.

Along the way, I caught up with Ah yee when I went for my global meetings in Europe. Of course technology makes connection so easy as well. With whatsapp, you are far but never too far away.

Finally, ah her and CY are back! The kids had been looking forward to their arrival so much. In fact, Zaky has been counting down in the final days; he volunteered the role to remind everybody of the number of days before D day. He said that he missed them so much bcos he hasn't seen them for such a long time. So sweet!

Ah yee and CY touched down on Saturday early morning. The kids insisted to set the alarm clock so that they would already be awake to welcome them. Daddy Lil and I were up at 6am for the morning ride and the kids were already awake before we left the house! They must be really excited.

Unfortunately, our house is super far from the airport and they opted for the MRT. They didn't reach until about 9am. I bet the kids' neck grew an inch from all the pinning.

We didn't see them for long before we had to leave for classes but had dinner together at home. Popo cooked bcos ah yee was craving so much for home cooked food. We would be hosting them while they are in Singapore; they would be taking the kids' room. This is their 1st time in Centris and though the room is tiny, they looked comfortable. The 2 elder Fs joined us for dinner last night. Ah yee is in luck bcos there is a huge pasar malam right downstairs and we went together last night. The kids were excited over the rides while ah yee and CY were so enthusiastic over the food. Haha. Ah yee said that CY is very happy to be living on top of a mall with plenty of food options just downstairs. Lol.

This morning, we dated them for swimming. When Daddy Lim and I came back from our morning ride, we bumped into them from bfast. They had kindly brought the kids along. There was a slight drizzle but nobody mind.

Now, with sporting facilities right downstairs, I hope they burnt all the calories before they head back to Paris. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 94

Coach Raymond was not available last week but we still came back for practice. Our practices now comes with 2 pair of skates. Lil Shauna will skate and warm up in her old skates before changing into the new ones to get used to them. Despite the attempts to run in the new skates by wearing them at home, it is still not working. Then again, we haven't been diligent recently.

Lil Shauna has always has such a low pain threshold. Last Saturday, she was whiney soon after donning her new skates. I insisted that she stayed in the rink even when she was screaming pain. I assumed that it was bcos of her low threshold. By the time she was finally let off the ice, she had actually developed a blister. Poor thing but she still has to persevere and run in her skates. Haha. Evil mummy.

Class wasn't much different today. She is still taking class in her old skates. We really need to run in the new ones soon if she is to use them for the competition at the end of the year. I thought her toe loop is much better now after we spent last weekend trying to correct it. She still didn't manage her flip jump or sit spin. I guessed she would likely go for Freestyle 3 instead of 4 for the competition. This is her trying to "find" her free foot during sit spin. It is one of the spin styles and she hasn't managed to find her foot yet.

After ice resurfacing, she was made to go back to the ice in her new skates and had to stay 30 mins. She was whiney at 1st but seems to progress fairly well. I saw her did great scratch spins and her jumps weren't too ridiculously bad too. Like usual, she was so eager to take off the new skates. She said that it was painful but it wasn't that painful. I am also eagerly looking forward to the day that I only need to bring 1 pair of skates.

Mummy Lim

Morning Ride

We had done 2 night rides so far and thought of doing a morning ride. Imagine watching sunrise while riding!

I wanted to start at 5am but Daddy Lim wanted 6am instead. I woke up before 6am bcos I suddenly have this swollen and painful gum at the lower right end. I have no idea what causes it (cant be wisdom tooth bcos it was removed years back) but the pain was so bad that it woke me up and kept me awake. Fortunately, I could still ride.

Anyway, the watching sunrise part didnt really take place bcos Daddy Lim was so troublesome; he needed to shower and poo poo. It was nearing 7am when we left the house and the sun was already rising while we were still making our way to the PCN. Chey.

Then my Sony headphone said that it was low batt soon after we started. What?! I had charged it the entire night! Spoilt already? Daddy Lim also refused to humor my request to sing in lieu of the Sony.

We took the same PCN but wanted to go further this time. Daddy Lim did his homework and found out that another connecting PCN could bring us to Buona Vista.

A little break before our way to BV.

We hopped onto this new PCN, which was really crowded. I am already thinking that we should come back one of the nights.

The PCN was very long and runs aside a huge cannel and there was this otter family! They attracted so much attention.

Can you see them? The kids would have been so thrilled but I doubt they can cycle all the way here.

We would love to go on but decided to turn back bcos of time constraint at the end of the PCN. We were somewhere near Sunset way. We did a total of 22km. It was a nice ride even without the Sony, I enjoyed the birds singing and the rustle of the leaves.

Happy! Just that the Sony still doesn't seem to be charging properly. Boo. Spend money time?

Mummy Lim

Another New Ride

I like cycling. When I was a teenager, I had a trusty mountain bike that accompanied me on my rounds at the Bedok Reservoir. It was just me and my 933 then.

Recently, I grew bored of the treadmill and swimming. I thought about cycling again but wasn't willing to spend a fortune on a bike. I had thought that all bikes are the same. Afterall, my cheap, trusty mountain bike then had provided me with so much joy. On that theory, we eventually lugged home a foldable bike from NTUC. It was fairly cheap buy at $150. I tried cycling on it a few times and didn't enjoy the ride. It dawned on me then; that a proper bike really does make a huge difference.

Daddy Lim had been enjoying his Monster a lot. A week back, he even went night cycling in town with Uncle C and showed me fabulous pictures of the ride. He was all praise and I was tempted. I also want...

I was further lured when Uncle C said that an expensive bicycle shop was having mega sales and I could get a very good and originally very expensive bike at $400. Even though the bicycle shop was in faraway Ubi, we made plans to travel all the way down in search of my precious ride. 

Did we get it? Of course not. All good things are snatched already. The cheapest was a 700ish bike and I would not spend such money on a bike. Fortunately, the area was lined with bicycle shops. At the Giant bicycle shop, we asked for a basic and cheap bike and was led to the back area of the shop. Well, back area or not doesn't matter. What matter is that I found my love. It wasn't love at 1st sight bcos the kids were so noisy to allow any love to blossom but the price was right. My love comes at a "price tag". I left the specs and details to Daddy Lim while I entertain the kids and make sure nobody smash anything expensive in the bicycle shop with rows and rows of over thousand dollars bicycles.

Finally! My love!

We had to remove one of the wheels and bring down one of the back seats to be able to fit it into the car. The bike sat comfortably in the car while the rest of us huddled together. The plan was to test out the bike in the night. Hehehe. Fortunately we had tired kids who willingly went to bed at 9.30pm. We were all ready and set off for our 1st night ride date. 

I am no pro and fear riding on the road. I am so thankful for the PCN. With a combination of the PCN and some pedestrian walkways, we rode all the way to West Coast Park! Woohoo!

We took a break at the Mac and had a vanilla cone. It was to hard to resist after the workout. I probably lost all that I burnt to that ice cream cone but I just had to reward myself for the hard work.

The ride back was much faster bcos we needed to burn the ice cream cone and it was getting late. All in all, we clocked about 22km and it took us almost 3 hours with all the breaks. 

The ride was awesome. This time, I really fell in love with the bike. It was so smooth, so enjoyable, so wonderful. To more rides coming up. Hohoho.

Mummy Lim

Ride

Last night, I heard Daddy Lim and Zaky talking about going for a ride. This morning, while I was still snoozing on the sofa, trying to coax my body to go to the gym, I heard the bedroom door opened. I thought it was Popo. It wasn't, but the little boy who remembered about the cycling date and went to wake Daddy Lim up. 

Instead of the boring treadmill, I joined the boys. Lil Shauna was totally not keen and opted to sleep in instead. 

Daddy Lim was on his power ride while I took the foldable bike and Zaky has upgraded to take over jiejie's bike. 

We cycled from Centris, all the way through Chinese Garden via the PCN. It was a great ride. The weather was fantastic.

We cycled all the way to JCube bcos the boys were hungry and we stopped for Mac.

With a full tummy, we ride all the way home, clocking about 10km. It wasn't tough for the adults but no easy feat for Zaky on his little bicycle. We are so proud of him. 

He has officially taken over jiejie's bicycle and jiejie would take the foldable bike. His blue bike is now way too small for him.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating at Home

When one is so desperate to break in the new skates and doesn't want to risk being crippled during class with new skates.

Once a day, at least 30 mins each time.

Power!

Mummy Lim